Phoenix Experience moving to BHS in the fall

     Valley View School District 365U will relocate its alternative school, Phoenix Experience, from the Brooks Middle School building to Bolingbrook High School next fall.
     The move, which has been contemplated for several months, will not only improve the educational experience for Phoenix students, but will also save the district an estimated $540,000 in staffing and other costs as well as $150,000 in busing costs.
     “We believe we can better serve the students’ needs with the additional resources we have at Bolingbrook High School,” said Dr. Phillip Schoffstall, VVSD’s superintendent.
     The plan, details of which are still being worked out, call for the creation of a “school within a school” at Bolingbrook High School under the supervision of one of the current assistant principals at BHS. Classrooms will be located in the BHS “A Wing” which is currently being used by special needs students who can easily be accommodated elsewhere in the school.
     The current Phoenix staff will be reduced from 14 to 6, with a staff of four certified teachers, a two part time counselors and a secretary. Security will be handled by existing BHS security staff.
     The 16 bus routes currently in place for Phoenix students will be reduced to five.
     “They’re still our children,” Dr. Schoffstall said. “They’re just going to be in a different building.”